Sharkbait Down Under

Nicholas Corcoran’s POV

We arrived back at the casino at three-thirty in the morning. Becky pulled into the private parking level for residents, turning the SUV into Alessandro’s reserved spot. I carried my sleeping mate in my arms to the elevator, where we headed for the 70th floor. The Coven headquarters had a dozen bedrooms, and Becky showed us to one. I took Vicki’s clothes off and tucked her in without her waking. I walked back to the living area overlooking the harbor, spotting Becky out on the balcony. I went through the door, marveling at the view of the city and its waterfront. “What now?”

“Once I have you settled, I will hack the security footage to show you arriving at midnight and going straight to bed. I’ll loop the video in the garage and elevator to make up the time,” the redheaded vampire told me.

“The police will track their men back to us; we are their last known assignment,” I said.

“True. A group of your mermaid friends arriving chartered a tour boat last night in Sydney Harbor. The police officers dropped you off at the King Street Wharf at six. You boarded the Starship Sydney with your friends, eating and drinking until you fell asleep in the corner at nine. I picked you up when the tour boat returned and brought you here about midnight.”

It was a lot to do. “How is that going to work?”

“Alessandro will be at the tour boat this morning and speak to the Captain and crew. They will tell the police they remember seeing you, but no details. Maribel has already spoken to her people, who will swear you were on board. There are no security cameras on the tour boat, and the cameras providing good visibility of the dock will have technical issues. Keep your answers general; they care about what the officers did after dropping you off.”

“And Alessandro’s involvement?”

“He worked through a private company to provide security for VIP guests up in Queensland. The two men clocked out last night with their superiors, just before they drove you to the electrical supply house. As far as the security company is concerned, the men completed their assignment and were off the clock last night.”

I wasn’t sure. “How is all this possible?”

Becky just laughed. “Planting a vague memory is easy for a Master Vampire, and all that is required is that they remember you were on their cruise boat if the police ask. The surveillance is all on computers. If it’s a computer, I can get to it. As for the security company, who do you think owns it?”

“Alessandro?”

“Close, but it’s Rick. Our Coven splits ownership of various investments and companies among us for tax and other advantages. A security company gives us access to law enforcement, weapons, and equipment we couldn’t access legally without it.”

It was a slick setup. There were advantages to never aging and never having to sleep. I didn’t have those advantages; it had been a long day, and I was fading fast. “I’ll leave you to it. Goodnight, Becky.”

“You and your people did well tonight, Nicholas. I’ll make sure our secrets stay that way.” I closed the door behind me and walked back towards the bedroom. I took a shower to wash the rest of the blood and seawater off, then tucked into bed. Vicki rolled towards me; her skin was cold, so I gathered her into my arms and went to sleep.

I woke to a knock on the door; looking at my phone, it was eight AM. Vicki was still out cold. “Yes?”

“It’s Consuela. I’m here to check on Vicki.”

“Just a moment.” I woke Vicki gently, as she was SO not a morning wolf, then pulled on shorts and went to open the door before going to take care of my morning routine. When I came out of the bathroom, Consuela had finished her examination. “How is she doing,” I asked.

“I just want to SLEEP,” Vicki said.

“She’s anemic and dehydrated. She needs fluids, food, and rest in that order,” Consuela told us. “She’s on bedrest today. Go, bring your wife her breakfast.”

I quickly dressed and went into the hallway, following the smell of bacon to the kitchen. “Good morning,” I said to Oksana, who was cooking up a lot of food. “Is someone else coming?”

“Just the two of you, but Consuela said you needed lots of food. I don’t get to cook often, so I volunteered,” she said. “Bring those trays over.” The trays each had large glasses of milk and orange juice, and one had butter and syrup. Each had two plates. I handed them to her when directed, and she heaped on scrambled eggs, bacon, and a steak on two of them. I set those down, and she took the other two and filled them with thick pancakes topped with strawberries on the other two plates.

“What are these,” I asked.

“Syrniki, Russian cheese pancakes,” Oksana told me. “My mother used to make them for me on special occasions like my birthday or the Tsar’s.”

You never ask a woman her age, but that was a hint and a half. I carried one tray into the bedroom, where Consuela had brought over a folding table next to the bed. Vicki’s eyes widened at the sight of all the food. “Steak AND bacon?”

“Get your food baby going, and then you can sleep,” I told her. I set the food before her before going back to get mine. My wife wasn’t shy about eating, and she’d made a dent by the time I returned. We both liked the Russian pancakes.

Becky came in and verified the surveillance tapes matched our story, which she went over with Vicki. Vicki was a little unsteady on her feet, and we’d just washed up when Alessandro joined us. “It’s all over the news,” he told us. “I’d expect the first detectives to call you in the next few hours.”

“Becky briefed us on everything,” Vicki said.

“I’ve delayed the talks on the Council until tomorrow morning so you can rest,” the Master Vampire told us. “The mermaids are taken care of; there’s plenty for them to do at Bondi Beach.”

“I should call and see how the meetup is going,” Vicki said as I tucked her in.

“I’ll find out. You take it easy.” I kissed her forehead as she turned on the news, then followed Alessandro out to the living area. He gestured me to a chair by the windows. “How bad is the blowback going to be?”

“Manageable,” Alessandro said. “We had a few hours to work before the police found out, and that gave Cyprian and Becky a chance to plant some evidence. It’s enough to lend credence to the drug angle without casting suspicion on the rest of her operations.”

“What will happen with Caroline’s estate? Is she married to someone?”

“Caroline was not married; unlike Vespucci, she wasn’t planning to change identities or move to a new territory. Designating an heir in a competitive Coven can paint a target on your back,” he said. “The Council requires all vampires to have similar languages in their wills to avoid entanglements in human courts. In a case like this, with the entire Coven leadership gone, what happens depends on how she structured her fortune. Many structure their finances as a private corporation and give their people stock, while others hold it closely. I suspect she isn’t as trusting as I have been with my people.” That made sense after hearing how Rick owned the security company. “The lawyers will handle the estate, and new leadership will come in. The vampire world is in the middle of a shakeup as new Masters arise, and others move where they have opportunities.”

I’d grown up ignorant of Vampires in my country, so all of this political stuff with Packs and Covens was new to me. “I’ve got so much to learn,” I said as I looked out over downtown.

“When you think you have nothing to learn, you are merely existing,” he said. “I’ve been a vampire for centuries, and I never stop learning new things.” Oksana brought over a Coke for me, and I thanked her for breakfast again before she retired. “What did you think of the land? Are you going to take it?”

“Vicki’s picking out drapes for the home we haven’t designed yet,” I said. “I may need your help getting the coastal commission to agree with our plans.” I showed him the satellite view of where we were hoping to build and what zoning laws were. “A hundred-meter setback from the high water line kills our dream.”

“All of these are ‘should’ restrictions,” Alessandro said with a smile. “I’ve dealt with government regulations and zoning rules more than I’d like to admit. Think of what the Commission’s goals are, then tailor your proposal until its benefits outweigh the effects of the waivers.”

“Like what?”

“Come on.” We went to his conference room; the computer screen there took up most of the wall. Alessandro brought up the satellite view of the property along with the zoning laws. “The coastal development plan has two goals; minimal visual disruption of the coastline, and conservation of native vegetation. Are you planning to raise sheep there?”

“No, we’d like to let the land return to nature. All we want is to run on it without interference, which means keeping it private.”

He backed the view up to show the peninsula. “You can donate land to a charity and take the tax deduction, and not allow the public to access it,” he said. “You should consider redrawing the boundary lines if you do that. Combine that with an easement across the northern portion of the properties to connect the Blowhole Beach park area with the Talisker Park; the public good then outweighs the variance. A strip wide enough to put in hiking and bicycle paths would buy a lot of goodwill. The South Australian Government has inquired about buying the land, but it wasn’t a high enough priority.”

“We’ve talked about an airstrip on the west side, maybe some houses for Pack members who want to live close. The farmhouse here is all right, but the resort doesn’t fit what we want. I don’t know what they were thinking with that spaceship.”

“Then put that in your proposal. Removing eyesores and structures helps, as will using historical designs and natural materials for your proposed structure. If you can show the Commission that the coastline will be better after your proposal than now, you have a chance.”

The idea had merit. “If it doesn’t work, can you come to the meeting and use your power to change the Commissioner’s minds?” He looked at me like I was kidding. “Vicki wants this bad, and I don’t want to disappoint her by saying we can’t do it.”

“We should probably come up with a great proposal first,” he said.

“Nicholas? Linda called; she needs to talk to me in person.”

“Is something wrong? Is it the show?”

“She has some rough cuts we can watch, but she needs to talk to me about personal things, too.”

“I’ll ask Alessandro if we can bring her.” A few minutes later, Oksana volunteered to drive to the beach and pick up our Sharkbait Productions Director and her new Merman.